Class 3A

1. Christian Academy-Louisville vs. Elizabethtown

2. Lexington Catholic vs. Pendleton County

3. Central vs. Larue County

4. Union County vs. Webster County

5. Belfry vs. Powell County

6. Hart County at #7 Franklin-Simpson

7. Franklin-Simpson vs. #6 Hart County

8. Rockcastle County at Knox Central

9. Bell County at Clay County

10. Mercer County at Garrard County

If you listen close enough, you can hear Lloyd still falling out of the top ten lol 

Not saying I disagree with the current placement at all, but it is funny to see Belfry fall a spot the week after needing only like 5 offensive plays to get a running clock going while Union County was on a BYE. ?

The Top 3 in this class seem to be in their own stratosphere right now. I think all three could beat each other on any given night.

Teams 4-9 all seem to be on similar footing as well, but not sure I would expect any of them to hang within two scores of the Top 3.

Mercer County is in at 10 and I think they lead the next cluster along with Lawrence County, Glasgow, and a full strength Lloyd Memorial.  I don't see any of these teams competing with the Top 3, but all of these teams can give the second tier fits on any given night and with the help of a couple injuries or turnovers.

14 minutes ago, ATLCat said:

Not saying I disagree with the current placement at all, but it is funny to see Belfry fall a spot the week after needing only like 5 offensive plays to get a running clock going while Union County was on a BYE. ?

The Top 3 in this class seem to be in their own stratosphere right now. I think all three could beat each other on any given night.

Teams 4-9 all seem to be on similar footing as well, but not sure I would expect any of them to hang within two scores of the Top 3.

Mercer County is in at 10 and I think they lead the next cluster along with Lawrence County, Glasgow, and a full strength Lloyd Memorial.  I don't see any of these teams competing with the Top 3, but all of these teams can give the second tier fits on any given night and with the help of a couple injuries or turnovers.

I think Belfry is still too high. They should be around 8 or 9.

6 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

I think Belfry is still too high. They should be around 8 or 9.

Yikes.

Not so sure about that thought process. 
 

That Johnson Central win doesn’t have the luster as most years but it is still a better win than anyone behind them can tout in terms of margin and quality opponent and a loss to Southwestern where a blown call proved the difference in the score is also a better loss than any team behind them can tout as well. 

I thought you were always a big SOS guy?

Outside of the clear Top 3 teams Belfry has the best SOS in 3A according to Calpreps (in terms of teams competing for a legitimate Top 10 ranking). Belfry’s win over JC also is the best second best win outside of the Top 3 against a team from non-district play. Mercer County owns the best win according to Calpreps but that is also the same Mercer County team who lost to Southwestern 42-7.

Mercer has entered the building.

I think every team ranked 4-10 is capable of beating and being beat by each other. I trust Belfry more than any other team in that group. I don’t believe any of them can beat CAL, LexCath, or Central. 

1 hour ago, Brown said:

Mercer has entered the building.

They've been knocking patiently for awhile. Think they finally just picked the lock and invited themselves in.

2 hours ago, ATLCat said:

Yikes.

Not so sure about that thought process. 
 

That Johnson Central win doesn’t have the luster as most years but it is still a better win than anyone behind them can tout in terms of margin and quality opponent and a loss to Southwestern where a blown call proved the difference in the score is also a better loss than any team behind them can tout as well. 

I thought you were always a big SOS guy?

Outside of the clear Top 3 teams Belfry has the best SOS in 3A according to Calpreps (in terms of teams competing for a legitimate Top 10 ranking). Belfry’s win over JC also is the best second best win outside of the Top 3 against a team from non-district play. Mercer County owns the best win according to Calpreps but that is also the same Mercer County team who lost to Southwestern 42-7.

Yes, SOS is big. SOS is why I agree with Central at #3. I think the SOS is pretty even for most of the top 10 after the top 3. Belfry's win over Johnson Central is not significantly better than the wins for several other of the top 10. The GRC loss hurts Belfry, but there are others in 4-10 with losses that hurt them. You could shuffle 4-10 around in about any configuration and make a valid argument for your ranking. Taking a closer look at it after your post, I would have Hart County at #4, Mercer at #5, Bell at #6 and Belfry at #7. Union County would drop to #8. But it is razor thin margins and my subjective opinion on all that.

13 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

Yes, SOS is big. SOS is why I agree with Central at #3. I think the SOS is pretty even for most of the top 10 after the top 3. Belfry's win over Johnson Central is not significantly better than the wins for several other of the top 10. The GRC loss hurts Belfry, but there are others in 4-10 with losses that hurt them. You could shuffle 4-10 around in about any configuration and make a valid argument for your ranking. Taking a closer look at it after your post, I would have Hart County at #4, Mercer at #5, Bell at #6 and Belfry at #7. Union County would drop to #8. But it is razor thin margins and my subjective opinion on all that.

Mercer is the team I ding a little more than the rest. That blowout loss to Southwestern also looms large as I weight it more than their Week 0 win over Taylor County. If those two scores occurred in a flip flop of dates I would probably feel differently, but we are splitting hairs. I think I put them just a tick outside that second tier of teams, but at the front of the next tier. For that reason I think #10 is their rightful spot.

I think it is a tossup between Franklin-Simpson, Hart County, and Union County. Two are undefeated, but F-S & Hart County basically have the same resume except F-S played a team capable of beating them in a solid 5A Greenwood. Union's undefeated record doesn't really have a signature win. Hart at least has a win over Glasgow. Both F-S and Hart went to Glasgow and won in successive weeks but the F-S win was a little more impressive. 

That leaves the three Eastern teams.. 

You have to put Rock ahead of Bell due to the head to head win at Bell. Rock's loss to Paris isn't quite as nice now that Raceland clubbed the Greyhounds. Bell has a solid win over North Laurel early in the year and a bad win over Boyd County that foreshadowed an underlying issue on defense. Rock really does not have a quality win outside of beating Bell.

The other thing I will say about Belfry is the final score of their Pikeville and GRC games are a bit mis-leading.  Belfry had a three score lead on GRC before a hook and lateral before the Half. Belfry then fell apart late (which is the knock on this team as they don't have a ton of depth). The Pikeville game was back and forth for Three Quarters but a couple key turnovers mixed with a couple big plays from Pikeville made that gap wider than the game was.

I would probably go:

4. Franklin-Simpson

5. Belfry

6. Hart County

7. Rockcastle County

8. Union County

9. Bell County

10. Mercer

Whoever wins the F-S/Hart County game deserves the #4 spot.

My goodness, after knowing how bad Lexington Catholic beer Lloyd and to think that LC plays Pendleton County, YIKES!!! This one may be over halfway into the first quarter. I knew Lloyd was obviously going to drop, but they have to be at the top ten or just outside of it. Regardless, I’m in agreement with everyone else thinking how wide the gap is after Central.

8 hours ago, ATLCat said:

Mercer is the team I ding a little more than the rest. That blowout loss to Southwestern also looms large as I weight it more than their Week 0 win over Taylor County. If those two scores occurred in a flip flop of dates I would probably feel differently, but we are splitting hairs. I think I put them just a tick outside that second tier of teams, but at the front of the next tier. For that reason I think #10 is their rightful spot.

I think it is a tossup between Franklin-Simpson, Hart County, and Union County. Two are undefeated, but F-S & Hart County basically have the same resume except F-S played a team capable of beating them in a solid 5A Greenwood. Union's undefeated record doesn't really have a signature win. Hart at least has a win over Glasgow. Both F-S and Hart went to Glasgow and won in successive weeks but the F-S win was a little more impressive. 

That leaves the three Eastern teams.. 

You have to put Rock ahead of Bell due to the head to head win at Bell. Rock's loss to Paris isn't quite as nice now that Raceland clubbed the Greyhounds. Bell has a solid win over North Laurel early in the year and a bad win over Boyd County that foreshadowed an underlying issue on defense. Rock really does not have a quality win outside of beating Bell.

The other thing I will say about Belfry is the final score of their Pikeville and GRC games are a bit mis-leading.  Belfry had a three score lead on GRC before a hook and lateral before the Half. Belfry then fell apart late (which is the knock on this team as they don't have a ton of depth). The Pikeville game was back and forth for Three Quarters but a couple key turnovers mixed with a couple big plays from Pikeville made that gap wider than the game was.

I would probably go:

4. Franklin-Simpson

5. Belfry

6. Hart County

7. Rockcastle County

8. Union County

9. Bell County

10. Mercer

Whoever wins the F-S/Hart County game deserves the #4 spot.

Comparing Hart, Franklin Simpson, and Union. Each teams 3 best wins a IMO 

Hart- Glasgow, Green Co. Spencer

FS- Glasgow, Allen Co, Christian Co

Union- Madisonville, McLean, Murray

I think Madisonville is better than a Glasgow. All 3 pretty even tho.

16 hours ago, Westernside said:

Comparing Hart, Franklin Simpson, and Union. Each teams 3 best wins a IMO 

Hart- Glasgow, Green Co. Spencer

FS- Glasgow, Allen Co, Christian Co

Union- Madisonville, McLean, Murray

I think Madisonville is better than a Glasgow. All 3 pretty even tho.

Glasgow is a solid win, no doubt about it. They are a good football team.

I would say Green County is arguably a better win than any on this list though, as their only loss on the year is Hart County.
The Dragons also drilled a Barren County team that took Glasgow to the brink of a loss the week prior. I would take the Dragons over Madisonville if they played this Friday night.